MAY DAY AND THE WAR[9]

Written:Written in the last days of April 1915Published:First published in January 1929 in the journalProletarskaya RevolutsiaNo. 1.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1971,

      Moscow,Volume 36,

      pages322-328.Translated:Andrew RothsteinTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive.You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work, as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.

INTRODUCTION

1.Thisyear, the demonstration of the international
proletarian movement takes place during the greatest
European war.

2.Perhapsnothing can be done in 1915 for “a review
of forces”? for comparing “successes and defeats”? for
contrasting the bourgeois world and the proletarian world?—
since the appearance =allhas collapsed.

3.Butthis is not so. War = the greatest possible crisis.Everycrisis means (with the possibility oftemporaryretardation and regress)(α) acceleration of development(γ) (β) sharpening of contradictions(β) (γ) their exposure(δ) collapse of all that isrotten, etc.

Thatis the standpoint from which to consider the crisis
(on May Day): does it have any of the progressive, useful
features ofanycrisis?

COLLAPSE OF BOURGEOIS-NATIONAL FATHERLANDS

4. “Defenceof fatherlands” and the actual nature of the
war. What is the essence? Nationalism versus imperialism.

5. 1789–1871 (about100 years)...and 1905–?

6. “Defenceof fatherlands” (Belgium? Galicia? Over the
division of the slaveowners’ spoils)

versus“away with frontiers”. Collapse of national
fatherlands? Good riddance!

7.Imperialismold and new—RomeandBritain versus
Germany.

{Seizureof territoriesColoniesDivision of the worldExport of capital

}

8.Maturityof the objective conditions for socialism.

9.Howto defend thestatus quo?

Howto carry on the revolutionary struggle for
socialism?

10.Nationalfreedomversusimperialism. The
proletariat of oppressor and oppressed nations.

11. “Internationalism”in the attitude to wars. ((“Which
bourgeoisie is better”? or independent action by the
proletariat?))

12.Back(to the national fatherland) or

forward (to the socialist revolution)?

[[

σ=
the collapse
of national
narrowness.

]]

COLLAPSE OF OFFICIAL
		    SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

13.Everyonefeels (if he does not realise) the
turning-point in the history of the working-class movement. The
crisis and the collapse of the International. What is the
cause? Was the International united, or were there two
trends?

14.Areview of attitudes to the war within the
working-class movement of the major countries:

Germany:August 4 versus Borchardt andDie
Internationale[10]Britain:

France: (Guesde + Sembat versus Merrheim)

Russia:

(ItalySwitzerland

[practice, two parties everywhere]

Sweden

15.Whatis the point? Compare the British and the
German labour movement =

Bourgeoistendencies and influence in the labour
movement.

16.Fifteenyears of struggle against opportunism, and
its growth in Western Europe. The collapse of opportunism
benefits the working-class movement.

((Guesde-Hyndman-Kautsky-Plekhanov.))

17.Thecrisis of official Marxism (1895–1915). Not to
resurrect the corpse, but to develop revolutionary Marxism
against opportunist “would-be Marxism”.

18.Marxismversus Struvism....

Dialecticsversus eclecticism....

19.Tornbanner? Stuttgart 1907

Chemnitz[1]Kropotkine

(disillusionment)

«— 1MO

20. “Allpossibilities”exceptrevolutionary action.

21.Anarchism=opportunism (petty-bourgeois).La
Bataille SyndicalisteCornelissen
Grave
Kropotkine

22.Abdankungder deutschen
Sozialdemokratie.[2]

Ineffectualorganisations have broken up or, rather,
perished—to clear the ground for better ones. “Over-ripening”
(not that the proletariat has riot matured): compare 1907.

COLLAPSE OF PETTY-BOURGEOIS ILLUSIONS
	     ABOUT CAPITALISM

23.Thewar is seen, on the one hand, as a single national
cause, and on the other, as an abnormality, a disruption
of “peaceful” capitalism, etc.

Bothillusions are harmful. And the war tends to destroy
both illusions.

24. “Burgfrieden”,[3]the “national bloc”, “l’union
sacrée”[4]during the war?

25.Waris a “terrible” thing? Yes. But it is a terriblyprofitablething.

160,000millions>60,000million rubles.Mehrwert[5]=10,000–20,000 millionrubles.

26. “Adaptation”of industry to war conditions.
(Ruin. Rapid concentration.)

27.Warand the pillars of capitalism.

“Peacefuldemocracy”, “culture”, “the rule of law”,
etc., versus the horrors of war?

Privateproperty and exchange.The guarantee of ruin
for some, the guarantee and basis of violence:

28.Coloniesand concessions.
“Honest concessionaire”?
“Humane” colonialist?

29.War= a terribly profitable thing = the direct and
inevitable product of capitalism.

30.Harmfulillusions can only hinder the struggle against
capitalism.

COLLAPSE OF PACIFIST DREAMS

31.Capitalismwithoutimperialism? (Shall we look back?)

32.Theoretically(in the abstract) it is possible even
without colonies, etc.

33.Justas with a 4–hour working day, 3,000 workers
minimum....

Ad33: “Capitalismcandevelopwithoutimperialism,
without wars, without colonies, with full freedom of trade.”

Isthat true?

Capitalismcanprovide thousands of millions not for
war, but in aid of the paupers and the workers, thereby
perpetuating the domination of the capitalist class!

Theoreticallyidentical propositions. “Compelling
pressure of the working class and humanitarian measures of
the bourgeoisie.” The whole point is that such things can
be compelled not by pressurein general; what is needed ispressurewith the force of a real revolution. And the
revolution and counter-revolution will sharpen the struggle to
something more essential.

Thequestion boils down to a struggle for reforms. This
struggle is legitimate and necessary within definite limits,
viz.:

(1)absenceof a revolutionary situation;
(2) partial
character of the reforms, not to sharpen the struggle of classes
to the point of revolution.

34.Onaccount of what? On account of the horrors of
war? (And what about the terrible profits?)

Onaccount of pressure from the proletariat? (And what
about the opportunists’ betrayal?)

35.Peacewithout annexations,

“Abolition of secret
disarmament, etc., etc.

diplomacy”?

Objectivemeaning:,clerical
consolations((Feuerbach: religion consoles.

“Utopia or Hell”?

N.B. [The review
ofForelinDas
Volksrecht]

36.Thestruggle for reforms?
Yes.—Its limits.
Particulars.

Anepoch of reforms,the absence of a revolutionary
situation.

Thisis the crux.

RESULTS OF THE COLLAPSE OF ILLUSIONS

37.Revolutionarysituations

(α) the lower orders won’t, the upper classes can’t 

(β) growth of misery 

(γ) extraordinary activity.

38.Slowand tortuous development.Compare 1900 versus 1905.

39.Plunderby the capitalists

“Kriegssklaverei”[6]and deception by the governments?

40.Thewar and the marvels of technique?

41.Thewar and regrouping,(workers versus peasants)

42.Threemental attitudes

(α) despair and religion

(β) hatred of the enemy

(γ) hatred of capitalism, not only in general, but
ofone’s owngovernment and bourgeoisie.

43.The“Gaponade”.[11]

44.Letter:“Mundspitzen”[7](“Kamarades”)

45.Everycrisis breaks some

££
andhardensothers.

Collapse of what is
harmful, rotten in the
labour movement=
elimination of the
obstacles to
revolutionary battles.

46.Hardens—forthe socialist

revolution (σσ).

PROFITS OF THE CAPITALISTS

Bythe way.The 10,000 million loan in Germany. The
loan will yield 5 per cent. The government has so arranged
things that thesavingsbanks (for subscription to the loan)
receive funds from theloanoffices (Darlehenskassen), paying
them 5.25 per cent. The loan offices get the money from the
government! A swindle.Das Volksrecht(Zurich), of April 
27,
1915.[12]

Theabsurdity of “amiable” utopias: without secret
diplomacy—we proclaim the aims of the war—peace without
annexations,, etc., etc. Sentimental and reactionary
rubbish.

Theold nations (respective,[8]the bourgeois states)versus“away with frontiers”!

Theexperience of Russia: 1900 versus 1905.

Downwith the autocracy(1900) and the “people”....

Revolutionary slogans and thegrowth of the revolutionarymovement....

[1]Evidentlymeaning the Copenhagen Congress.—Ed.

[2]Therecantation of German Social-Democrats.—Ed.

[3]Civilpeace.—Ed.

[4]HolyAlliance.—Ed.

[5]Surplusvalue.—Ed.

[6]Warslavery.—Ed.

[7]Getready to whistle.—Ed.

[8]Correspondingly.—Ed.

[9]Thesummary of a lecture. It is not known whether or not it was
read.

[10]JulianBorchardt’s group,Internationale Sozialisten Deutschlands(International Socialists of Germany), together with theInternationalegroup (Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz
Mehring, Clara Zetkin and others) constituted the revolutionary
opposition among the German Social-Democrats and openly
opposed the war.

[11]Onthe eve of the 1905 Russian revolution, the priest Gapon,
on assignment from the Okhranka (Secret Political Police), formed
an organisation, the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers,
with the aim of distracting the workers’ attention from
revolutionary struggle. On January 9 (22), 1905, Gapon provoked the
workers into marching to the Winter Palace to hand in a petition
to the tsar. On the tsar’s orders, the demonstrators were shot
down.

[12]Volksrecht(People’s Right) No. 97, April 27, 1915, carried an
article, “Die Anleihenspirale” (Loan Spiral), which exposed
the financial machinations of Helferich (German Minister of
Finance) designed to ensure the success of the second 10–billion
war loan.